


Poking a Sleeping Bear

by CMMLovr



Series: Newsroom Fanfic Challenge 2015 [9]
Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: AU, First episode tag, Gen, Newsroom Fanfic Challenge 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 08:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5157275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CMMLovr/pseuds/CMMLovr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU of the first episode where Charlie decides to provoke a thus-far docile Will into delivering his renowned "America's not the greatest country in the world" speech in studio.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poking a Sleeping Bear

“C’mon Will, practice with me. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do tonight,” sighs Charlie, pulling at his bowtie to loosen it slightly. The hour is late, yet he and Will are still in the studio – Will having finished his show about an hour ago.

“I don’t need to practice, Charlie. I’m fine!” Will replies heatedly, his hands shoving the papers from his news desk to a side drawer.

“Ah jeez, Will. All I’m asking is that you do some preparation with me before your Northwestern appearance – hell, it can’t be worse that what you did out here tonight.”

“Are you screwing with me, Charlie? We produced a good show tonight-”

“You let Stanley McChrystal off the hook and you know it. There’ve been plenty of other things too, but that’s the one that I can remember best, seeing as how it happened an hour ago. Look, just practice with me for Northwestern so that I know that you’re not going to fuck up, okay? Set my mind at ease,” grumbles Charlie, watching Will’s mulish expression affectionately.

“Fine! Fine! What questions are you anticipating, Charlie?”

For a while, Charlie and Will go back and forth with the typical questions asked at the convention.

On the other side of the screen, Mac settles herself into the control room, her eyes glued to Will’s face. She’s missed him; that much is apparent in the ache she feels in her chest and the burning in her throat and the corners of her eyes.  She watches as his face settles into an amiable half-smile – the one she became used to when forced into cordial situations with her after their relationship ended.

If she’s honest with herself, she’s not really sure how Charlie thinks that this can work. His proposition is both flattering and tempting, but she’s sure that Will has become comfortable in his routine of not pissing anyone off, and she’s not certain that she can be the one to push him out of it. For a moment, her mind drifts and she allows herself to just watch him – watch the way his lips move and his hands gesticulate carefully and in a contained manner, as they would when he’s on air. She remembers a time when his hands would fly as he spoke; when he would become so passionate about whatever it was that he was discussing that he would forget for a second that his arms were attached to him as his hands flew about him. She misses the Will she used to produce. Hearing his voice reverberating around the control room is nostalgic enough, but knowing that there was once a time when her voice used to be in his ear at the same time as his voice was in her domain dredges up a lot of the pain that she’d been attempting to avoid for three years.

Wait – Will’s voice is reverberating; he’s _angry._ Turning her attention back to the conversation rather than Will’s face, she is surprised to hear the vitriol in his tone.

“Jesus, Charlie, you can’t possibly think that that will be a question on Monday.”

“You never know. And, you’ve also not answered.”

“That’s because it’s a stupid question.”

“Please tell me that you do not intend to respond that way if asked the question at Northwestern,” replies Charlie heatedly, his eyes angrily glaring down Will’s petulant expression.

“I do not intend to respond at all,” intones Will churlishly.

In her musing, Mac had missed the question. She hopes that Will will cave to Charlie’s strategy, if only to see what has got Will so riled up – so much more fiery than she’s seen him on air in a long time.

For a moment, stone cold silence sits between Charlie and Will, until finally the latter grumbles softly and sighs, assenting for Charlie to _ask the damn question_ again.

“Will, what makes America the greatest country in the world?”

Sighing perceptibly, Will raises his eyes to meet Charlie’s once more.

“Is it diversity, opportunity and freedom?” goads Charlie softly, his tone a mockery of the standard and arrogant answers to a frequently asked question.

From the corner of his eye, Will sees the prompter flicker to life, the screen coming to life bearing the words:

_It’s not, but it can be._

Somehow, the words seem to speak to him. They seem to ignite something deep within him that he hasn’t felt since… _Mac._ He hasn’t felt this passionate about anything since their break up, and now he has the perfect opportunity to sound off against the arrogance and stupidity surrounding him without repercussions. He knows that Charlie’s goading him, in the same way that he knows his response will be playing right into his hands. _And he doesn’t care._ For the first time in years, Will feels the desire to be heard; he want to be seen as more than just a passive pretty-face.

“Do you seriously expect me to tell students – with a straight face, no less – that America is so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom?”

“Is that an acknowledgement that we _are_ star-spangled awesome?” responds   
Charlie dryly.

Snorting softly, Will grinds his teeth before replying, “Of two-hundred and seventy sovereign states, about one-hundred and eight of them have freedom. There is absolutely no evidence to support the claim that America is the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, 22nd in science, third in median household income, number four in labour force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defence spending where we spend more than the next twenty-five countries combined, twenty-four of whom are allies.”

“What’s your point, Will?” taunts Charlie archly.

“America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbours. We put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence. We didn't belittle it. It didn't make us feel inferior.”

For a moment, a stunned silence hangs in the air. Will is surprised by his own reaction – had no idea that he was still capable. Still, he feels that what he has just delivered to Charlie is no more than an attack on America, rather than an appeal to the fact that there is still some hope for his home.

“We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”

“That, Will, is exactly what I have been waiting to hear from you. I don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone else might think about it, but this is the person I want to see doing the news, you hear me?” Charlie’s expression is gleeful, his eyes twinkling with a mirth that Will hasn’t seen in a long time.

“I hear you,” responds Will tiredly, albeit proudly. The truth of the matter is, he’s pleased that he was able to speak his mind – and he half likes the idea of doing the same on his show. He won’t – the ratings would suffer dramatically for it – but it’s a notion that he can daydream about.

“Good. I’ll see you when you get back from Northwestern, then.” With that, Charlie trots out of the studio stage, immensely pleased with himself.

From the control room, Mac sits in awe, gazing at Will’s face as he attempts to wrangle with him own emotions. She hadn’t expected that those six words would – she hadn’t expected him to engage so well. Laughing giddily, she realises that she shouldn’t have touched the control room equipment, but she’d wanted so badly to elicit a stronger answer out of Will that she hadn’t even thought of the consequences. Like the fact that Charlie would be in here in moments, and that she probably wasn’t meant to have watched that exchange. Still, it wasn’t her fault that he’d been late for their meeting – though she could see now why Will was a priority over her. As a precaution, Mac scrubs her words from the prompter and sits back down in the chair farthest from the computer.

“Mac! Great to see that you made it,” Charlie steps into the control room, greeting Mac warmly as he hugs her gently.

“Thank you for the invitation – though I’m not sure what I can do to help you …” replies Mac, her mind still playing Will’s words on a constant loop.

“Oh, I think there’s plenty for you to do,” smirks Charlie, a knowing twinkle entering his eye. “Did you get my gift?”

“I did, and I appreciate it, I’m just not sure what you want me to do here,” repeats Mac quietly.

“I want to do the news. I saw one of your old shows with Will, and I know he’s still capable of what he used to do – and you do, too. He needs prodding, and you can do that. Essentially, I want to do the news well and to educate the masses through the power of cable television.”

A pause hangs between them, and Charlie grows somewhat impatient, “look, I want to take your IQ and talent – along with Will’s affability and intelligence – and put it to some patriotic fucking use! You and he can work together to produce something inspired and wonderful,” he insists.

“There’s history there, Charlie. I don’t know how much you know, but he might not want to work with me,” Mac murmurs hesitantly.

“He’ll have to. If you’ll accept my offer, then you’re his EP as of next month, when the contract will be finalised.”

“And his current EP?”

“Don – he’ll be moving to ten o’clock with Eliot Hirsch, which is in the works as we speak.”

“I’d need my Senior Producer to come with me, along with a few other staffers,” intones Mac, truly taken by the idea.

“Bring them all – if they can improve the quality of this broadcast, then I’m not opposed.”

Mac is pensive for a beat, and Charlie waits patiently. He doesn’t seem concerned, but excited. This is a project that he’s been dreaming of and finally has the opportunity to put into action.

“I’ll do it. I accept your offer.” There is an unmistakeable brightness in Mac’s tone as she replies; her face lighting up with a half-grin.

“Excellent! I’ll get the contract ready and drafted and you should be able to sign very soon,” promises Charlie, his own expression ecstatic.

“In that case, I should probably go and tell Jim – my Senior Producer – that we’ve got something,” smiles Mac, shaking Charlie’s hand before bidding him goodnight and thanking him once more for the opportunity.

 For the first time in years, Mac is optimistic. Something great could happen here, and she's willing to take the risk to be a part of it.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a review! This is my entry for October's Fanfic Challenge 2015 (the preceding months will hopefully be uploaded soon). The prompt: Take any favourite line from the show and turn it on its head. Thanks, as always, to LilacMermaid for the prompt!


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